Greencastle Summer Music Fest to feature local 'Songwriters in-the-Round'

Monday, June 12, 2017

The Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues on Wednesday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church with an "In-The-Round" performance by three local songwriters -- Chris Wurster, Ron Dye and Anthony Mullis, aka Gus Moon.

These concerts are free and open to the public thanks to the support of individuals and businesses, including the Inn at DePauw and the Putnam County Community Foundation.

Chris Wurster performs at last summer's ParkFest program in Greencastle's Robe-Ann Park.

"I am really excited to showcase a concert featuring some of the area's great songwriters" Chris Flegal, the festival executive director, said. "I have long been a fan of the 'in-the-round' formant, which will offer the audience a unique glimpse into the craft of songwriting, not to mention an evening of fantastic music!"

"In-the-round" is a concert style established by Nashville, Tenn., songwriters and musicians. It offers an intimate look at the songwriting process as each artist takes turns performing their original music. Stories, improvisation and collaboration are just a few things to expect during this time-honored Music City tradition. Audience members will gain an understanding of the songwriting process, learn the stories behind the songs, and enjoy some surprises along the way.

Playing music is one of many things Wurster enjoys in retirement. He just completed the run of "Curtains" at the Putnam County Playhouse, playing the lead role in the musical comedy. He also acted in the collaborative "Street Scenes" earlier this year at DePauw, and recently reprised his presentation, "Freedom Music of the Civil Rights Era," for the Castle with sixth-graders at Greencastle Middle School.

Dye learned the rudiments of country-style guitar from his father while still in his teens, and has spent parts of the subsequent four decades performing solo and in bands at music clubs and festivals, on the same bill with such diverse folk luminaries as Doc Watson, Liz Carroll, Mary Travers and David Honeyboy Edwards, among others.

Dye first dabbled with songwriting as a teenager and over the years occasionally wrote songs and composed music for theatrical productions, but only began to focus on songwriting as his primary creative outlet around 2010. He is currently combining his interests in songwriting and theater by working on a roots music adaptation of the Orpheus myth, tentatively titled "Six Months in the Underworld."

As true to himself as Mullis/Moon can seem, when pick hits string and he pulls that first lyric up from his gut, he transforms. A Gus Moon show melds personal experience, troubled characters and often more troubling narratives into many of his songs. Other songs are much more topically bright, but there's always some sort of balance in his songs between the darkness and the light.

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